jon: have a state of emergency in four california counties because of those fires burning. heather: that is all for us. jon: over to "the live desk." [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- martha: hello, everyone. trace: we are live, inside and all over the fox news room. behind me is the national desk. over here, this is the foreign desk. every picture that comes into fox news comes in through here. on "the live desk" brand new pictures will always be on the right-hand side of the screen. in the top box, breaking news from southern california. governor schwarzenegger declaring a state of emergency for four counties.

the station fire has now doubled in size, to 85,000 acres, with more than 10,000 homes in its path. humidity is low and the worst case scenario is developing, hot gusting winds. in the middle box, new pictures inside the living hell that was casey lee dugard's backyard prison for years. now her captor is being investigated as a possible serial killer. there is word she was employed and interacting with the outside world. and we will soon get a major announcement from gov. pat to do all about ted kennedy's open senate seat. he wants the law changed so that he can appoint an immediate successor. it could have an impact on health care debate. when he speaks, you will hear about it. martha: it was "a terrible

decision." that was from the dick cheney talking about the bush -- obama administration's decision to investigate cia prosecutors. he says that this is all political and insists those interrogations' saved countless american lives. >> we had a track record of defending the nation against mass casualty attacks. the approach of the obama administration should be, asking those people how did you do it? instead, they aren't trying to disarm those lawyers, -- disbar those lawyers. martha: bill sammon is with me

now from washington. there is so much in this interview. i want to ask you about the direct allegation that the reason for reopening this is political. that is a strong charge against the justice department, as well as the president. >> i think it is based on the fact that these cases were already investigated by career lawyers. those career lawyers, not political appointees, the sun and that they were not prosecutable offenses. there was one person, a contractor, who did go over the line, and he is jailed. the ones being looked at now have already been seen, and that is why he says the only possible motivation has to be political. martha: the administration says that you cannot make a direct link between the fact nothing

has happened in the last eight years and the methods that were used to clean the information, and specific, in an endangered. >> i do not know if that is going to work. there is an element of common sense that has to come into play here. before these terrorist were not more border, and they would not give up information. afterwards, co-lead sigma sean -- to lead a -- khalid sheikh mohammed was considered a standing rolodex, as if he was a professor in front of an intelligence class, laying out who the players and plots were. he said we used that information to stop it -- specific plots, and that is how we kept the nation so safe. it is a pretty compelling argument. trace: i spoke to a couple of former cia agents over the

weekend and they said that they are not getting involved, political or not. they say even if the investigation was dropped tomorrow, if you are a caa agent, you feel like your hands are tied. you do not know if somebody is going to review something that you did. it is better to do nothing than to do something wrong. >> that has serious implications for national security. i think his larger concern here is what president obama has been doing since he took office was taking the nation off of its war footing. maybe it was among the earlier decisions to close guantanamo.

all of these things are part and parcel for an effort to take off of a war footing and he is worried that we could be attacked again. martha: thank you. we want to know what you think. we are asking if the former vice president was right or wrong in saying president obama went back on his promise not to prosecute these cia agents. click on the you decide link. 89% of you who have responded so far say that yes, he is right. trace: to southern california where firefighters believe in a few hours gusty winds will pick up. that is terrible news for those

people. it is being called the station fire, burning in the san gabriel mountains. the fire in the angeles national forest has doubled in size to about 80,000 acres. now the broadcast towers for the los angeles television, radio stations, and they are all off on the mountain, and they are in danger. adam housley has more on the fire's progress. >> as we speak, a water tanker is going to be heading up the hill behind me. visibility is extremely difficult right now. it is like standing in the middle of an ashtray and someone turns on a hair dryer in front of you.

the wind has died down, but on the hillside, it continues. you can hear the fire sizzle as it moves across the hillside, and you can feel the heat on our back. it sounded like a waterfall as it incinerated everything in its path. we know that 15 or so residents, whether they were vacation homes or not, were totally lost. we are only 30 miles from downtown los angeles. we know that 12,000 homes are threatened. of course, that horrible news that two firefighters lost their lives. that may explain how this happened. -- let me explain how this happened. tankers like this go up the

hillside on one lane dirt roads, driving up conditions like this. firefighters were trying to escape the flames, and you have all of the conditions, and they drove over the side of the cliff. there are several more fires like this around the area. there is one in need pummeleit t situation, and the santa ana winds have not even arrived. trace: thank you. sometimes it is hard to visualize the immense power of these wild fires. here is time left video on how destructive they can be. this video was shot by someone in silver lake, los angeles.

we will be speaking to a homeowner who so far has decided to go against the orders of the governor not to evacuate. we will ask why he is staying, and what that means for firefighters. the exclusive interview making headlines as the justice department plans to look into the cia's post-9/11 interrogation techniques. why does the former vice president believe that the current white house is putting americans in danger? and if you are traveling this weekend, we will tell you which popular vacation spots may be a direct target for this monster. quality and reliability...

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trace: and in the top box, court action in englewood, new infopreneurs aid to stop work on the mansion owned by the libyan government. that is the location mary t. plans to stay. in the middle box, nato forces in afghanistan say a new strategy is needed to defeat the taliban stanley mcchrystal said the situation is "serious.

in the bottom box, frantic 911 calls released today in that mass murder case in georgia. the caller saying his whole family was dead. eight people were beaten to death. police were not sure how they were killed and they are not sure if the attacker is still in the area. martha: chris wallace sat down with former vice president dick cheney for an exclusive interview. it is the first time he reacted since attorney general eric holder decided to reopen this investigation. it is classic cheney and classic chris wallace. he asks all the question that we all want to hear. most importantly, his take on the cia probe. >> the attorney general says

this is a preliminary review, not a criminal investigation. it is just about cia officers who went beyond their legal authorization. what i will eat it not stop there? >> i do not believe him the president told us a few months ago that there would not be an investigation. now they get some heat from the left wing of the democratic party, and now they are reversing course. martha: with me now is a former speechwriter to george bush. with me also is a democratic pollster. we also have a former cia operative. he is basically saying that he does not believe this will go further. what is your feeling for the

administration and how committed they are to seeing this through? >> i think they have in political -- delicate political set of problems. on the one hand, we have a full- scale investigation. on the other hand, the president has said he wants to look forward. i think it is what everyone says it is, a preliminary investigation. let's hope we can put this behind us quickly. martha: listen to what john kerry had to say in reaction. >> i think there is some tension between the warehouse and lawyers, justice department, as they see the law and their obligation. in a sense, that is good and a corporate. it shows we have an attorney general who is not pursuing political agendas. martha: what do you think about

that? first, do you think there is tension between president obama and eric holder, or is john kerry providing cover? >> eric holder works for barack obama. if obama did not want this to go forward, it would not. there was already an investigation by this by career prosecutors in the eastern district of virginia. that decision is now being overruled by political appointees, many of whom that come from law firms to represent terrorists. they are overturning the decision of career lawyers here. if the bush a administration had done this to its predecessor, there would be of rage. now eric holder is doing this and he is a paragon of justice. -- there would be outrage.

martha: another part of the article i found interesting was this oversight group that would direct threat -- report directly to the white house. let's first tier with the former vice president had to say about that. >> if they were faced with the kind of situation we were faced with after 9/11, capturing people who may have knowledge about the attacks, and they have to have meetings to decide who gets asked one, and who is going to brandeis the witness. it makes no sense. it does not appear to be a serious move. martha: your thoughts on those things? this separate interrogations group that is supposedly going to be convened care in also. >> you have the government

screaming about oversight. of course, the white house is overseen by no one. this is a great accretion of power to the white house. the cia is pretty much end a political organization. but on the issue of terrorism, especially with islamic terrorism, the agency has people in charge that are very questionable. he never listened to mr. wolsey. mr. holder and mr. obama, from the democratic generation that you hate the agency. the idea that this has anything to do with anything of that leftist political pawn is an absurdity. martha: so you believe this makes us less safe? >> of course it does. it is comfort to the enemy.

no matter how the investigation works out, al qaeda and its allies are now aware that the president of the united states is trying to neuter the intelligence service. i do not know if it is permissible to do a happy dance and, but once they heard this announcement, those boys in the caves were dancing. martha: thank you for being with us. trace: iran's nuclear threat, and a possible middle east peace deal. that is part of an exclusive interview we have with the israeli president. more on what the president thinks, and the white house's role in a peace agreement. and please respond to a call of a drunk driver on the road.

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trace: in the top box, we are winning the white house briefing. we should get the first response from the white house on comments made by dick cheney. in the middle box, congressman jim sensenbrenner announces he is in the early stages of prostate cancer. he says it was caught in time and has not spread. in the bottom box, the space shuttle discovery is now at the international space station, delivering food, equipment, and the lab here.

talks of a possible middle east peace deal with the president of israel. in their exclusive interview, shimon peres said down with bret baier, saying it is time. the interview comes on a hill -- comes on the heels of a poll of israelis who believe that president obama does not have their best at heart. the poll shows only 4% of jewish israelis consider the president pro-israel. bret baier is in jerusalem. tell us what the president is saying about a possible settlement negotiation? -- negotiation. >> i asked him about the pole and he said that he never really respected them. there are like perfume, they are nice to small but dangerous to swallow. ask for a possible breakthrough, i got the sense

that israelis are possibly preparing to make some agreement on the settlement issue. president peres told us about the meeting that could happen this fall. >> perhaps by september. president obama could chair it. there is a chance that we could be open to negotiations. frankly, i think it is the best choice. there is no escape. >> as we walked through the presidential guard and, he talked about iran, the threat from iran. he said he believes iran is trying to build a nuclear

weapon. he said it should be the world's problem but israel is preparing -- and we have confirmed that israel is doing war games. they have also been testing their anti ballistic missiles. he says that he believes iran could have a nuclear weapon within two years. he also has no faith in the iaea, and its head, mohammad elbaradei. much more on this story later on tonight. trace: thank you. you can take a look at the rest of the interview tonight at 6:00 eastern time. "special report" with bret baier. martha: he is charged with kidnapping and 11-year-old girl and keeping her for 18 years.

police say he raped her repeatedly, fathered two children with her, and forced them to live in a tent city in his backyard. if those allegations were not bad enough, wait until you hear about what we are learning now. diabetics on medicare.

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or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. trace: we have brand new information on three stories. new accusations over the release

of the lockerbie bomber. >> some are describing in as a prisoner for oil scheme. the u.k. was in deals with libya for an oil deal, and weeks later she was released. they have not denied that does happen, but they say that the two instances were not connected. trace: thank you. now to los angeles. a crackdown on sex tourism. >> these are some of the worst sex offenders you will hear of. they are being brought back to face trial here.

one of them bought a 13-year-old boy for $2 and a bed of rice and raped him repeatedly. another man went through the streets on his motorbike dropping dollar bills behind, and we have their names, details, and faces of these guys. we will have the details on operation twisted traveler. trace: thank you. going to one of my favorite places. this could be dangerous. janice dean. >> this is jimena. it looks like this storm is strengthening. there will be in a new adviser at the top of hour. we will have the latest, but you can see all four quadrants are starting to form. the truck brings in close, if not a direct hit, on, sam

lucas, anywhere along the peninsula. trace: thank you. martha: we are keeping one eye on the white house briefing room. the reason we are doing this is because robert gibbs is likely to get tough questions about this interview that dick cheney did with chris wallace. he made some strong statements against the reopening of this cia investigation and some of the tactics used after 9/11. in the meantime, lawmakers are holding a series of town hall meetings today. for weeks we have been closely monitoring these offense to hear what the voters are saying about health care reform, other issues.

we are watching several of them today. claire mccaskill is holding two meetings in her home state of missouri. to the northwest in kansas, john mccain, claire mccaskill, and kit bond are making an appearance at a children's hospital. there were three senators at this forum. were the main concern different than what we have seen in the others? >> no, the same sorts of concerns, but only from a select audience. these are doctors, professionals, health care officials, including local government. they were focusing on cost, access, on folks who cannot afford insurance. what was different was hearing the three republican senators saying that they wanted reform. there were too many people that were uninjured. the catch coming from mitch

mcconnell was that we need to sit down and talk about this, start over again. martha: who was in the crowd? some are asking my the public was not invited. >> all three senators pointed out that they had already done public hearings in the month of august. they say they have seen unprecedented levels of the anchor that have been vented at some of these town hall meetings, and they want to look for solutions in the hopes that they can sit down with their democratic majority counterpart to hammer out a deal. of course, we are in recess right now, so it is not like we

are going anywhere anyway. it was all very subtle and intimate so far. only about 75 people inside, excluding the media. it was very non confrontational. there were some questions from one pediatrician who said, what about the poor? what are we going to do about cost? the deficit is going up every year. we did hear some points of view that we have heard before, only with a lot less heat. trace: police have released a frantic 911 call from that drill door for murder. apparently the victims of a vicious beating.

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priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. call or go online now to get started. martha: mar bid is just getting started. we are going to keep our eye on that. -- robert gibbs is just getting started. we will bring you any news. wildfires continue to burn in california. sarah palin will be making her first trip to asia next month as she addresses a well-known annual conference of global investors. trace: two virginia tech students found shot to death at a camp run last week. the area is said to be a popular

hangout spot for students at the school. montgomery county police have named no suspects and say the shooting appears to be random. martha: one man called 911 reporting someone killed his family. when police arrived, they saw nine members of the family on the floor. seven of them were dead, two clinging to life. we are told that one of them died over the weekend. but now the person who called is charged with lying to police and tampering with evidence. jonathan serrie has the story in atlanta. when did these tapes reveal? >> name began with a neighbor: 911. you can hear heinz in the background. at some point, he described what happened.

>> he also talks to the operator of up having to restrain potentially vicious dogs living on the property. there is a separate call from the property manager. during that call, you hear her wonder aloud how the killer could have gone into the mobile home with that dog. martha: described the crime scene. what do we know about what happened? >> is in old mobile home located on the property that used to be part of an historic plantation. police will not describe the scene other than to say, in the words of the police chief, this is the worst murder he has handled. martha: what about this guy

heinz jr? >> they are not calling him a spot -- suspect, but they have not ruled him out either. along with tampering with evidence, he is being charged with possession of drugs. trace: the man accused of kidnapping a young girl and imprisoning her for nearly two decades could also be linked to a series of murders. cadaver dogs announce a chip -- searching the property next door to where philip garrido lived. that is the man charged with kidnapping jaycee lee dugard in 1991 and honoring two children with her. police believe he could be connected to a string of murdered prostitutes. with me now is a former criminal prosecutor.

they are looking for any forensic evidence that could connect him to these deaths years ago. >> as well as anybody he may have conducted there. there would be close around the property if that was the case. trace: in the case of jaycee lee dugard, -- he had a printing business and she was working there. even when she went into the police department, she was hesitant to say who she was. >> it is the catholic stockholm syndrome case. you remember sean hornbeecck. trace: that is right. per member, these are kids. she does not know any other life after a while.

>> sean actually came in contact with police twice and then not even identify himself. trace: we know the parole officer for garrido was on a property on a few occasions. sheriff's deputies were there after getting a complaint called but nobody ever stepped in the backyard to see this tent city? >> the system let this girl down. an investigation really needs to begin there. we cannot let this happen again. let us not forget the casey anthony case. trace: to not let it happen again, you have to realize that these sex offenders are spending an average 56 months in prison and they are more likely to react and compared -- reoffend

compared to regular criminals. >> he should never have been let out. this system allows him to live up there with his record? this is atrocious. it should have never happened. trace: the story will go on from here. this thing is getting more and more complex. >> execute the pedophiles. martha: schools are getting ready to open their doors this fall, but a big concern for everyone is h1n1 virus. kids are being told all the normal things like washing hands, but we will tell you but the cdc is suggesting that may leave some parents baffled.

a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 

trace: in the top box, we are looking at the white house briefing. if he starts to make comments concerning what dick cheney said to chris wallace, we will bring that to you. looking at wall street, down about 92 points. in the bottom box, new information on the track of hurricane jimena. it is a monster storm and it is headed for the baja, california peninsula. let us listen to robert gibbs. >> making the country saved? >> this is the same song and dance we have heard since the first day of the administration.

i do not have tha lot to say. if you watched the interview, the vice president clearly had his facts on a number of things wrong. the notion that somehow this white house is going to be making interrogation decisions, not the high value detaining group stationed at the fbi, and whom have participants from all different intelligence and law enforcement agencies within our government, which has allowed people like fran townsend to complement the creation of this group. i think what was also eliminated

were centered in the cannes comments yesterday about -- senator mccain's comments yesterday about whether or not these enhanced interrogation techniques that the president has outlawed -- the effect that it has on our standing in the world and foreign policy. he does not agree with us on every issue, but i thought, given his experience, they are tremendously illuminating. i am not entirely sure that dick cheney's prediction on foreign policy has borne a whole lot of fruit in the past few years that has been either positive work or even correct. >> if the president out lost

torture, why does he continue to use the attention? how does he believe these things can be monitored? they are thousands of miles away. -- use detention? >> i think it is important to reiterate that after a review of enhanced interrogation techniques, the president came to the same conclusion that senator mccain said yesterday. >> [inaudible] >> based on the president's executive order, there are no american-run block sites. there is the aisle lolling of controversial interrogation -- outlawing of controversial interrogation techniques, and we are going to improve the image

of this country. >> [inaudible] >> that is the policy of this country. >> the interrogators? >> some may go back to their own countries to face charges, but there are not shipped in the dark of night to be tortured. >> things have gotten worse in afghanistan. i believe the last two months have been the worst in terms of u.s. fatalities. things take a long time to implement, in terms of military strategy, but things have gotten worse. is this a sign that the strategy is not working? >> no, we have under-resource afghanistan for almost a decade. not all the additional troops are there yet. this has been coming back is part of what a new commander

does when they go to the region when they are newly assigned, as the president has done. chip, the president -- we are not going to see the entire thing turn around, with anything, after years and years of neglect. you cannot under-resources the most important part of our war on terror. you cannot under-resources not for five years, whether it is with troops, civilian manpower, under resources with economic development funding, and hope to snap your fingers and have it turn around in a few months. what the president said it to run the campaign and actualized in the administration was, to change our direction in afghanistan, to understand that it is the central focus, that

for too long we ignored the people try to do us harm, as well as the resources necessary for dealing with the size and scope of the problem that exists. >> i understand how it was when he came into office, but things have gotten worse. >> it is a challenging place. we are forever indebted to the men and women who served there, particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice. we will see the general assessment once it gets here. the president is focused on insuring we meet measurable benchmarks, and ultimately dismantle and destroy al qaeda.

it will take some undoing. it will take more resources, which the president had dedicated to this problem. but understand, chip, this was under resources, undermanned, and ignored for years. that is not going to change overnight. >> is it possible that we are simply losing control of afghanistan? >> based on some initial reporting that i have seen from general mcchrystal is that the situation is serious but the board is winnable. >> how long will it take for the report to get to the black house? >> that is a better question for the pentagon. -- to the white house? >> there is no fedex tracking number.

i assume it will be sent over by the pentagon. that is a good question for the pentagon. the president has continued to do briefings with ambassador ikenberry, and general mcchrystal, general petraeus, ambassador holbrooke, and others involved in this. the president will want to review the report and then discuss with all of those who have equities in it, to get their viewpoint and make sure every person is heard on this. that is what the president intends to do. >> rather than responding to bob dole, how about responding to christopher dodd who said he wants to -- >> i think the president will continue to frame what is important to health care, and doing it in a way that improves quality of care.

doing it in a way that changes the amazing amount of resources it takes -- trace: the white house daily briefing now talking about afghanistan. the question was why the situation in afghanistan continues to deteriorate. he pointed fingers to the previous administration and then had to skip over a couple of questions to explain what is happening now. prior to that, he was asked questions about former vice president's dick cheney -- for about vice-president dick cheney's -- former vice president dick cheney's interview. catherine herridge, you were listening along. robert gibbs said that the president -- former vice president did not have his facts right, and he also said that he had not been a great predictor

of foreign affairs. >> there were three main headlines to me. first and foremost was the claim by the white house press secretary that the former vice president had his facts wrong on a number of issues. particularly, when it comes to the enhanced integration program carried out by the cia. secondly, he talked about the hank. this is a group that is being set up at the fbi that mildew with the interrogation of high- value detainees in the future. -- the hague. what we know in background is the higg would decide who would be the best agency to interrogate the detainees. the former vice president said that he felt this was taking us back to the same type of posture we had prior to 9/11 that led to such disasters have results.

such a significant claim by the vice-president. i also found it interesting that robert gibbs tried to attend to ally president obama's with what senator john mccain said. he said john mccain disagrees with the types of tactics used in an irrigation programs. but what he did not mention was an important point made by senator mccain. while he disagrees with the type of tactics used, he also disagrees with the administration's position to look back at what happened five years ago. he feels that the president would be best served by looking forward, as he previously promised. trace: that is a good point. this has already been reviewed, and now in the review is being reviewed. we are asking you where you stand on this issue.

former vice president dick cheney accusing president obama of breaking his promise not to prosecute former lawyers. so far 90% of you say that dick cheney is right. the president is breaking his promise. 1% of you are not sure. not a scientific poll, but we want to know what you think. martha: in an exclusive interview, they also talked about the nuclear threat that iran poses to the world. he says he pushed, at the time, for a much stronger response. >> we can speculate about what might have happened if we fell under a different course of action. but say i was an advocate for him over bust policy.

martha: he was an advocate of a more robust policy when it came to iran's nuclear program. this comes as the u.s. and five other nations are meeting to address their concerns about their nuclear program. jennifer griffin is with us from the pentagon on more. clearly, dick cheney said he was in favor of the military option to do with the nuclear program. >> in fact, he said of all cabinet ministers, he was most in favor of a robust option, more of a military option. listen to what he told chris wallace in that interview. >> in 2007, was in mistake not to take it out?

>> i thought it was important to keep the military option on the table. >> by making it clear that the military option would not be used, it creates a more dangerous situation in the middle east. there was an editorial today talking about how and secure israel feels with this negotiations going on. there is concern here in the pentagon that israel could take matters into its own hand to hand carry out a military operation itself. martha, if the u.s. is going to hang back on the issue, in may embolden them to tackle their own action. talk about latest intelligence estimates for how long it might take for iran to have nuclear capability. >> u.s. intelligence and israeli intelligence differs somewhat. bret baier sat down with the president of israel who gave his

take on this. >> how long does israel believed it will take iran to get a nuclear weapon? >> the differences are a few years. some american estimations of his three years. >> in essence, they believe iran can have a nuclear bomb in a short time frame than what u.s. intelligence is estimating. both the estimate people have been in a few years. the interview will be run in full tonight on "special report" at 6:00. martha: thank you. of course, iran's nuclear tensions have always been a hot topic between the u.s. and israel. bret baier addresses that in his exclusive interview with president shimon peres.

trace: we have been showing you the hills of california. 12,000 homes are threatened right now from wildfires. more than 2500 firefighters now battling the flames. two were killed yesterday when their truck drove off the road. the air is so thick, they could not see. the governor has now declared a state of emergency in four counties. take a look at what one man found when he returned to his home. >> our house is gone. i am standing right here. >> you are looking at it? >> i am at the corner house. and the entire block has been leveled. trace: more than 6000 homes are under a minute -- mandatory evacuation order, but some are

not moving, including one man who is refusing to leave. why would you stay? >> we are watching for members overnight. we are basically making sure no embers get to the southern flank where the firefighters are. trace: these are live pictures from our new affiliates. i have to tell you, i know that you are proud and you want to stay with your home, but we both know that the wind can shift on a dime. all this sudden, the fire is moving to your house and you are nothing but an additional burden to firefighters. >> we understand that. i have spoken with the fire chief. we are staying out of their way. they have come to ask us about the neighborhood before.

one of them thanked me for giving them a map of the canyon area. trace: if you are going to stay, you may as well help them. from your vantage point, what does it look like? how bad does it look? >> right now i feel fairly confident that it is not going to hit our home. the flames are about 200 yards off the backs of a couple of homes nearby. trace: best of luck to you. you are playing with fire, no pun intended. it is a bad decision but we wish you the best. new video of the lockerbie bomb released from a scottish prison now in a libyan hospital. there are new questions about how sick he is and whether there was a back door deal to trade

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trace: in the top box, new developments in the jaycee lee dugard case. police searching the home of philip garrido, a man accused of kidnapping her and told her hostage. police are also looking at evidence in a series of unsolved crimes. in the middle box, this is a live look from los angeles

international airport. william la jeunesse is there doing a different story. that is not a cloud, that is smoke. that is a very bad sign if you are a firefighter. imagine putting yourself in that cloud and try to fight the fires. in the bottom box, massachusetts gov. duval patrick will make an announcement today concerning ted kennedy's open seat. this is going to be critical. now to mark the. martha: we have new video of the lockerbie bombing. -- to martha. abdul basset al-megradhi was rushed to the hospital yesterday, out of range continues to build over new

allegations that britain may have paved the way for his release in exchange for an oil deal that was quite a lucrative for british petroleum. a fox british reporter is with us. what do we know about any deal that may have taken place? >> it will be very painful for families who have victims who died along that debt. papers were leaked that showed that abdul basset al-megradhi was sent back to libya, if that occurred, would be on the asking of britain officials. of course, we did see him get that heroes' welcome. the british government did not deny that he was talked about in relation to an oil contract. they told the libyan government that he might be free to go. suddenly, the deal was done.

martha: thank you. these new accusations, of course, fuel the fire back at home. chuck schumer has called for some serious measures progress -- and against great britain. >> if it is proven that there was a quick " grow, even though they are our friend, there should be some sanctions against the british government. martha: 270 people died in that bombing in 1988. 40 of the passengers were american college students on the way home after a semester abroad. one woman lost their 21-year-old son. their family is here now. i imagine it is no less painful than it was back then. watching him get off the

airplane and seeing him being embraced by al-qaddafi and others waiting on the tarmac, now that this information is coming down -- and we are still working on confirming this information. if there was a deal that great britain would release him as part of an oil deal, what is your reaction to that? >> i am shocked. i would feel betrayed. i cannot believe that our ally, our dearest ally, would ever give up their credibility in the world for oil. it is incredulous to me that this has happened. martha: what does your gut tell you about this? do you think that there was a deal? >> yes, i think a deal has been cut. the man has been released. we spent a lot of time in scotland in the trial. we went to the trial every day.

the scottish would not do this to themselves. they have been pressured, were forced, by the british government to release him. the scott would not do this on their own. martha: thank you for being here. i am sorry for your loss. let me bring in the panel to discuss this further. we have a senior fellow at the brookings institute. if this is true, and we are going to show it some information on this, but if it was true that a deal was made for bp in libya, why would the british government not make this person completely off limits in terms of negotiations? >> i am going to wait to see what the facts suggest. i'm glad there's investigation.

i would encourage people to be dogged in the investigation. i would disagree with the decision, even if there was no deal. given that the payments -- the heinous crime, i did not know if any sympathy was appropriate. i admire what the british are doing in afghanistan, but if there was any impropriety here, it should be investigated, but i will not venture a guess right now. martha: let's see what they had to say in response. >> no such deal was done. i have no power to do such a deal, to say to the libyans, we will do this deal based on oil. that was not within the jurisdiction of the u.k. government. even if it was, we would not

have struck the deal. martha: a lot of people look at this and they say, we do not even care. why was this allow to happen? when the libyan came back and said, we may let you spend an enormous amount of british money in libya, but in order to do that, we want you to release him. why when the british government not say, absolutely not? >> it depends. there were some astonishing revelation with regard to a possible back room deal between the british government and libyan regime of kernel of gaddafi. i think there was mounting public concern in great britain that the government of gordon brown was not being honest. he gave a press conference last week denying any government involvement in the release of the lockerbie bombing. that story is now being

contradicted by a leaked document coming from the government. i think we need to see a full- scale parliamentary inquiry. this could be ordered brown's watergate, a massive political scandal in the making. -- gordon brown's watergate, a master political scandal in the making. martha: could this spell the end for him? >> i agree the potential for complicity is big. i am going to reserve judgment for now. leaving aside any financial for friday, all of the investigation to go forward. martha: everyone seems to be in agreement that this should never have been considered and that he should have full -- lived out

his full term. thank you very much for being with us today. trace: back to breaking pictures from southern california. this is from our network news service. this is the station fire in the san gabriel mountains. this is the mountain range that separates the mojave desert from the greater los angeles area. some 12,000 homes are in danger. a number of homes have already been destroyed. it is a recipe for disaster because the humidity is very low, temperatures are high, and now the wind coming from the desert is forecast to pick up some time this afternoon. we will get you live updates along the fire line.

meantime, inside a house of horrors, where jaycee lee dugard was held captive. that is where phillip garrido allegedly imprisoned jaycee, and fathered two of her children. now cadaver dogs are searching. when i was told i had diabetes,

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r the cure. call now or log on to childrensdiabetesfoundation.org. trace: new developments in the store that has horrified the nation. investigated return to the home of the accused child rapist and kidnapper phillip garrido, looking for evidence that could connect him to the unsolved murders of 10 other women. we are also getting a closer look at the backyard compound where he held case you mean dugard captive, and why she may

not have been able to escape. >> almost two decades. now you know she is safe. fragile, though. >> she survived 18 years. if she'd tried to escape, she probably would not be here today. trace: , dick allen is with us now. every time we talk -- claudia khaled is with us right now. every time we talk, the situation gets worse. >> now in your search is underway as investigators from three different agencies continue to comb through film garrido's backyard. also, on the back next to the home. for some time, not long ago,

they say that he lived in this shed behind me, even as jaycee and hurt children lived on the other side of the fence. we spoke to the owner of the property here, and although he is not considered a suspect, he is angry. he also said that he is glad he kept an eye on his own young children. >> if i did not, who knows what would happen to my kids? >> just yards away, jaycee and her kids were living in squalor inside an area that could only be open from the outside. phillip garrido has pleaded

guilty to 29 counts of kidnapping and rape. his wife is also facing conspiracy charges because she did nothing to stop what was going on and stood by her husband. when phillip garrido was jailed for a few months in 1993, it was nancy who kept jaycee hostage, and she matches the woman who kidnapped jaycee from the streets years ago. both could now face the rest of their life behind bars. meantime, jaycee lee dugard is apparently trying to adapt to her new life, and remains in seclusion with her mother. trace: thank you. martha: the fed's are now cracking down on sex tourism.

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it has doubled in size and has no sign of slowing down. >> we are in the angeles national forest where the station fire is leaving a wide path of destruction. i'm standing in front of what used to be a home. this is one of 21 home that has been destroyed so far. 85,000 acres have been scorched. the fire is only 5% contained, and said news overnight that two firefighters lost their lives in the line of duty. trace: now to the murder in need toward a mobile home. 911 tapes have been released. >> the man who reported that his family had been murdered is now in police custody, being held on charges of illegal drug possession and tampering with evidence. police at this point are not calling guy heinz a suspect in

the killing, but they cannot rule him out. in the tapes, he told authorities that his family had been beaten to death. trace: thank you. martha: predators from this country troubling to asian nations like thailand and cambodia for the purpose of having sex with children. this video was taken by the fed's in a sting operation. three american men arrested in cambodia. they are now on their way back to the u.s. where they will face charges. william la jeunesse is that los angeles international airport, where those suspects will be arriving. who are these suspects, what are they charge of doing? >> let's go right to the new videotape of the arrest. the first one is jack spores.

he would drive the streets dropping dollar bills behind him to lure little boys back to his home where he would molest them. the second suspect would go to these problems with the vietnamese girls and hustled them there. finally, a 41-year-old eric peterson of los angeles bought a 13 year-old boy and raped him five times. all of them had multiple victims and convictions here in the u.s.. one man served 12 years in the california penitentiary. they believe that as many as 500 young boys have been molested. martha: why is a country like cambodia's suffering from this? >> poverty and a weak justice system.

cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in southeast asia and does not have the resources. they do not have very strong sentencing for this type of thing. martha: what does this tell us about a new emphasis perhaps by law enforcement to focus on this thing? >> a lot of these people are western pedophiles. looking at the study, this is a priority. they should not be allowed to get away with this. even though it is expensive to conduct these investigations, they believe it is a priority. that is why this operation was initiated. they are also working with some ngo west to bring these guys to justice to let them know -- ngo's to bring these guys to justice to let them know that

they cannot be doing this. martha: thank you. trace: it was a fishing expedition that turned into a fight to stay alive. for one week three men drifted in open water on their overturned boat. they clung to hope and pray for a miracle, and they got it. >> the guy that picked me up, he gave me a second chance on life. my identity was stolen when i was eight years old,

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look at the california wildfires. we are hearing that the station fire has burned 825,000 acres, and has charred so much area/ martha: in merkel rescue 43 fishermen. their boat took over when they were -- on saturday, another motor caught sight of the three of them, cling to the poll of their catamaran about 180 miles away from shore. they were overjoyed to be home. >> i thought it was christmas, the way the sun was hitting the

back of the window. martha: it was a great survival story. they survived on chewing gum, crackers, and they had to drink the water that was in their fish holding tank. trace: it is the president's number one legislative priority and it affects every one of us, health care reform. polls show americans are skeptical about the plans out there, and the chances of reaching a bipartisan deal seem to be dwindling. in the "washington post" bob dole writes, --

robert gibbs responded a few minutes ago, saying, any characterization of the president's role as inactive would be inaccurate. mike pence is with us now. we have two pretty good quotes. the president is basically outsourcing is to congress. then robert gibbs says that the president is heavily involved. >> i will tell you, i have seen in that town hall meetings across indiana. i have three more settled. republicans and democrats have heard a tremendous public concern about health care legislation that has been drafted in the house. as bob dole said, it is time to start over. they need to scrap the bill. it is nothing more than a government takeover of health care.

and we ought to demand the president bring his own children i talked to bob dole this morning and he told me when ronald american had a major legislative priority, they wrote the bill, sent it to the hill, and then started the process. here in nancy pelosi and democrats have written the bill with liberal priorities, and have shut republicans out of the process. and the white house has been on the sidelines. trace: democrats say that is a nonstarter, that is not going to happen. there are intimations that they are willing to adjust. you look at the cbo numbers, do you think that the president will maintain this stance that this can remain deficit neutral? that is a hard position to defend.

>> it is, particularly, when you understand that we are going to find these savings by cutting medicare by increasing the cost of prescription drugs for seniors under medicare part d, of up to 20%. this is not going to be deficit neutral. we just got news that we are not adding $7 trillion to the national debt in the next decade, but $9 trillion. we ought to scrap this version of the plan and say, mr. president, if this is your top priority, send us a bill so that we can have a thorough set of hearings. trace: i know you are in the house, but i want your thoughts on harry reid asking to come back after the recess and then

they will just push this through. how much would that all of us members of congress? how much would it hurt future bills if they take this bill and they run with it? >> it is pretty much standard operating procedure under this democratic congress. they pile drive through the stimulus, the budget, the national energy tax. it is no surprise to many of us, as they tried to do in july, and they may come back and try to push through health-care reform. he is leaving one person out of the equation. the american people have a different opinion here. they are expressing that at public forums all over the country. i expect they will of continue to do that. as we stay -- say in my state, he has another thing coming in

the things that america is going to stand idly by as they push health-care reform through congress. trace: thank you. martha: how is it going? shepard: we have been going through withdrawal with you gone. martha: that is why i left. shepard: we did a story about those voters -- boaters. this is coming up by the way, at the top of the ever. we will meet someone who stayed behind to protect his ranch in california. thousands of homes are in jeopardy. i was listening to you guys talk about all of the areas that are being affected. and the dugard case. martha: she is a little kid when she gets there. it is all about survival.

how is she going to be react limited to a normal life? shepard: and her children. speaking of, we will be to a woman who knows both of their children. she owns a printing press, and she met the family through that way. she has a different story about these kids. it will be a great power. martha, thank you. see you then. trace: hurricane jimena tearing through the pacific ocean right now, approaching popular mexican resort towns. what could it mean for the weather here in the u.s.? and our their potential hurricanes in the atlantic right now? here you go. whoa! that's some serious insurance.

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trace: we are a couple minutes away from governor in duval patrick's announcement on ted kennedy's open seat. in the meantime, massachusetts lawmakers say they will hold a public hearing next week on whether to kill kennedy's seat with an interim replacement. this will be a political blowout. in the middle box, that is the doubt. down 72 points. in the bottom box, the space shuttle discovery at the international space station. martha: and it is a hurricane watch in the pacific ocean. officials are expecting extreme weather conditions over the next few hours. jimena is brewing up their --out

there. it is a category for right now. janice dean is the one to watch what we are watching hurricanes. it looks pretty ugly from here. >> it is a relatively small but it is packing a punch. hurricane hunters have discovered 150 mile per hour sustained winds. that is almost a category 5 storm. look at that eye. it is an awesome looking storm. unfortunately, it could be deadly if it reaches land. as we go further out in time, the cone of uncertainty gets water, so there is a chance that it could hug bohol, california. either way, we will have the potential for flooding and

dangerous rip currents. we could have some of that moisture work its way into the four corners. we always talk about reading these storms. category 5, 156 m.p.h. and higher. this one is one to watch. an amazing storm forming over the warm waters. here is a tropical wave in the atlantic. could this become ever, -- erika? officials will be investigating tomorrow morning. we will have to see what happens. there is the early computer model. some are showing in very close to the hamas, another model pushing a closer to the atlantic. as we go further in times, we are in peak season, so we will have to watch for erika.

martha: thank you. trace: category 5 -- they are still recovering from will not in cancun. -- wilma in cancun. who will fill the seat of the late ted kennedy? the current governor is considering a special appointment to appoint someone to the seat. the law says voters need to decide in a special election but now democrats are trying to change the law. the governor's news conference will be minutes away. . a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix taken with other heart medicines, goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone, to provide greater protection against heart attack

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martha: thank you for stopping by. we will see you tomorrow. trace: we have a couple of breaking stories. we're watching the news conference by massachusetts gov. deval patrick. shepard: that news is breaking right now. we're waiting for the massachusetts governor to speak on how his state will fill the senate seat, left vacant by the passing senator ted kennedy. he is set to talk to reporters any minute now. senator kennedy died last week after a yearlong battle with raince